Bassa Attacks: It is impossible to order troops not to protect lives, prosperity against criminal herdsmen — Army

Authorities of Operation Safe Haven, the Special Task Force in Jos have debunked allegations that troops turned a blind eye when herdsmen attacked villages in Bassa LGA, killing people and burning houses because they didn’t have Orders to respond.

“It is practically impossible to issue out orders to troops and for them not to respond to any distress situation aimed at saving the lives and property of law abiding citizens considering that they are drawn from all the security agencies, cutting across ethnic, religious divides and under oath to maintain peace and security in the nation,” it said.

He told the Para-Mallam Peace Foundation led by Rev Gideon Para-Mallam and other officials of the non-governmental organisation on a sympathy visit to  his palace in Miango that the soldiers deployed in the area said they could not defend the helpless victims because there was no instruction that they should do so.

However, a statement by Major Ishaku Gaji Takwa, Military Information Officer titled ‘Re: Allegation on troops not responding to prevent attacks in Plateau untrue’ denied.

It said, “The attention of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) has been drawn to a publication, where it was alleged that troops of OPSH told residents that they had no instruction to repel invaders during attacks on some communities in Bassa LGA.

“This allegation is not only false and baseless but a malicious and futile attempt to once again malign the good work troops of OPSH have been doing to restore normalcy to troubled areas in line with its operational mandate.

“It is pertinent to note that OPSH is committed to safeguarding lives and property in line with global best practices of adhering to rules of engagement (ROE), standard operating procedure (SOP) and respect for fundamental human rights of the citizenry.

“For the records, OPSH deploys in a joint operations involving all security agencies whose mandate is to bring lasting peace on the Plateau and environs. It is practically impossible to issue out orders to troops and for them not to respond to any distress situation aimed at saving the lives and property of law abiding citizens considering that they are drawn from all the security agencies, cutting across ethnic, religious divides and under oath to maintain peace and security in the nation.

“Therefore, the submission that troops have not been given permission to protect communities is not only false but wicked as the mandate of OPSH is explicitly clear on what should be done in an event of such unfortunate situation in line with the SOP.

“However, it would be appreciated if anyone has information that would help identify personnel that is alleged to have given such excuse as to not given orders to respond to distress calls.It is also important to stress that prior to deployment, troops are adequately briefed on their expectations for operations in realization of OPSH mandate.

“Currently, the Commander OPSH has ordered the beefing up of security and increased patrols to safeguard all troubled areas to prevent recurrence of such sad incidents. All law abiding citizens are therefore enjoined to cooperate with the security agencies by providing credible information that would aid the security agencies in performing their duties.

“The good people of Bassa and environs are once again urged to use the phone numbers distributed by OPSH to report activities of suspicious elements in their domain for prompt response,” the statement said.

(Vanguard)